MLB Offseason 2013-14

[HedleyLamarr]

As a Braves fan, if you're in favor of getting rid of Uggla, raise your hand!

Braves might have a possible taker, and could land a solid 2nd baseman in return. According to this rumor, the Braves would love to take Brandon Phillips (who grew up in the Atlanta area....and a guy I played against in high school) off the Reds' hands and send them Uggla and a prospect or two in return.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/atlanta-braves-interested-trading-dan-uggla-brandon-phillips-154500364--mlb.html

[Sport]

I fully understand the idea behind trading Brandon Phillips. Aging player, big contract, this is the most he'll ever be worth ever again, etc. But I don't like it from an emotional standpoint. He's been loyal to Cincinnati since he got here in 2006, he's great with fans, and he helped lead us out of the woods of irrelevancy.

It's a tricky situation for sure.

As for the new manager in Cincinnati, Bryan Price, I really like this hire. He's been one of the best pitching coaches in baseball for a long time, he knows the players well, the pitchers love him, and from what I've heard he's into advanced analytics and modern baseball thinking but he also mixes it with the old methods. Dusty Baker always brushed off advanced metrics. I think using every piece of information at a manager's disposal is key for managers in today's game.

The pitching should remain solid and the use of the bullpen and pitching decisions should improve immensely (a big Dusty Baker weakness, not knowing when to take pitchers out). Price needs to get a good bench coach to help him with in game decisions and a competent hitting coach who's going to make this team smarter in their approach at the plate.

Definite upgrade over Dusty Baker.

[FGM13]

The Jays are gonna have a tricky offseason. They need pitching first and foremost. After that it's a crapshoot of who is good, who isn't, who should stay, etc. I personally think Jose Bautista is some nice juicy trade bait and they could rebuild the farm system by unloading him and Buehrle or some other pitcher.

[STL FANATIC]

I think the Reds could surprise people next season, but they shouldn't.

The Reds won the division in 2010, 2012, and were in it until the end this season. There's been some underachievement, most exemplified by a lack of playoff success which led to the removal of Baker.

But that's still a really good baseball team. If they respond well to Price, who by all accounts is well-liked, they should be back up there with the Cardinals and Pirates in the Central. No reason that division shouldn't be just as tough next year.

[ninersdd]

Former Giant Matt Williams is the new manager of the Nationals.

[FiddySicks]

Awesome news. Williams grew up and played high school baseball just down the road from me in Carson City, Nevada. He's still got a pretty big following in Northern Nevada, and Carson High's baseball field is named after him.

Plus, he's a former Giant and D Back. I hope he does awesome with the Nationals.

[BBTV]

The Phillies are about to get a f*load of money from a new TV deal. Probably somewhere in between what the Rangers got and what the Dodgers got. No idea how that impacts their offseason since GM RAJ has no idea about talent evaluation or how to spend money, and they've already decided to keep a lot of their old worthless players.

[mania]

EDIT: Wrong thread. Nothing to see here.

[Lights Out]

The Jays are gonna have a tricky offseason. They need pitching first and foremost. After that it's a crapshoot of who is good, who isn't, who should stay, etc. I personally think Jose Bautista is some nice juicy trade bait and they could rebuild the farm system by unloading him and Buehrle or some other pitcher.

If the Jays were smart, they'd unload Bautista for the best prospects they can get for him and try to clear as much money off the books as possible, because that team needs to bottom out to Astros level and start over.

However, Alex Anthopoulos apparently lost his mind last winter, so he will probably be doling out too much money for aging veterans again at the expense of their anemic farm system.

[FGM13]

The Jays are gonna have a tricky offseason. They need pitching first and foremost. After that it's a crapshoot of who is good, who isn't, who should stay, etc. I personally think Jose Bautista is some nice juicy trade bait and they could rebuild the farm system by unloading him and Buehrle or some other pitcher.

However, Alex Anthopoulos apparently lost his mind last winter, so he will probably be doling out too much money for aging veterans again at the expense of their anemic farm system.

Yeah, so we're basically screwed beyond belief.

[OaklandIsBack]

Parker, Gray, Griffin, and Straily. That's a nasty young rotation in Oakland